Summit County Democrat

FOL (Friends of the Legislature) 1 – Park City 0

2012-01-21T08:09:00.000-08:00

It seems that the Quinns Junction saga is approaching its conclusion. The combination of a potentially damaging law suit (with possible damages on the order of magnitude of the annual County budget) and pressure from a Legislature threatening to spot zone the parcel caused our elected officials to reach agreement with Mr. Erickson. I respect their judgment on this issue. At some point when the entire power structure of the state is against you, it wise to follow the advice in the Kenny Rodger’s song, “You’ve got to know when to hold ’em and know when to fold ‘em” .

This entire episode in bad government is another example of Utah crony capitalism at its worst. The moral of the story is that if you have friends in high places in this state, you can get anything you want.

When I was running for House District 53 in 2010, while knocking on doors in Jeremy Ranch, I met a man who told me his story of crony capitalism. He had bid on series of installation contracts for state facilities and was consistently the low bidder. After another losing bid, he approached the responsible party in the state agency and asked why he was unsuccessful, even with the low bid. He was told that he did not understand the system and that he did not have the right friends. When he got irate and said he would sue, he was told that if he did that, he would never get a state contract.

Until we break the power of the establishment in the state government we are doomed to more of the same. In November you will get a chance to start to change state government. Chris Robinson has a great chance to win the House District 54 race. The Democratic Party is likely to nominate retired Major General Peter Cooke for Governor. We will also have a very competitive race in Senate District 19, representing the northern part of Summit County.

In November, when you go to the polls – Remember Quinns Junction. Let’s bring honest government back to Utah.

State Senate pokes Summit County (again)

2010-09-07T08:44:00.000-07:00

The Utah Senate has asked for an investigation of development rulings in Summit County, claiming "political influence" may have effected decisions. That is rich coming from a body that specializes in taking corporate donations and doling out goodies to their friends. The planning commissions in Summit County are volunteer, unpaid positions, Senate leaders receive 10's of thousands of dollars in contributions. Who do you think is playing the political influence game?
What are the most dangerous 5 words to Summit County residents? - "The Legislature is in session"

Is This the Leadership Utahns deserve in the Legislature?

2010-08-21T22:28:00.000-07:00

David Clark, Speaker of the Utah House of Representatives, wants to sue the federal government
to avoid taking federal funds to aid education. See http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50144970-76/money-education-utah-funds.html.csp

This is money that can save over 1000 teacher jobs. In the last session the legislature failed to fund the anticipated student growth for this coming school year. This money can close that gap. Does the Speaker want our class sizes to increase?

Can we afford leadership like this?